Opinion News 2011 Archive

Need helicopter back-up during a firefight in Afghanistan? There’s an app for that.

No, seriously. In September, U.S. Marine Corps pilots started testing iPads to coordinate close-air missions, cutting the time required to pinpoint troop and enemy locations from minutes to seconds. According to the Los Angeles Times, iPads, iPhones and other consumer devices could soon become as common on the battlefield as “helmets, canteens and rifles.”

The supercommittee report outlining how it plans to meet its deficit reduction target is due in just a few short weeks. As I wrote last month, defense has already been cut to the bone and industry’s message is a simple, “No more.”

Just to review, here’s the scenario we face: the Defense Department is already planning on making $460 billion in cuts over the next ten years. If the supercommittee can’t find an additional $1.2 trillion in savings under the Budget Control Act’s sequestration mandate, defense will be headed for another $600 billion in reductions over…